How would you style this dress for an evening reception?

[NotDarkGothicMama]

DH and I are going to a colleague's evening do for their wedding in May. I have this dress that has been sitting in my wardrobe waiting for an occasion to wear it, but no idea how to style it. Makeup, nails, shoes, jewellery, bag... no clue.

The reception is at a very posh hotel in Scotland. I don't wear high heels and the reception involves a ceilidh, so comfortable footwear is a must. Looking at a budget of £200 for the shoes, jewellery and bag. I'm 5'4", size 10-12, mouse blonde shoulder-length hair, usually found in jeans and a hoodie. My hair is as flat as a pancake so will be pinned up in an up do to keep it out of the way.

Any help from people with an iota of dress sense would be very much appreciated!

Oh come on now! Yes, it can be 11C in both Edinburgh & London - but even if temperatures are the same in both cities, when we get north-easterly winds from the Arctic at high speeds, it feels much colder. That's not a matter of perception - it's a matter of fact!

In some winters I've had the hairs stripped off my legs by the wind funnelling down Great King Street ... and that was through my opaque tights ... 😁!!

I love our Scottish weather though - all that mutable light, the endless summer days ... Yes, a bit more wind, a bit more rain, a bit more snow than the south-east of England. But we have real weather - all kinds of it in all its welcome variety!!

And I'd much rather a bracingly fresh breeze on an Edinburgh summer's day, than a sticky stuffy airless day in London!

*Though, @PhaedraWas , I agree that ignorance about Scotland, its weather, or tartan - can be bloody annoying. But then so is (choosing) ignorance - on the topic of anything - over knowledge IMO. Not when we can choose to learn ...

Oh, & I also agree about the tartan twats (re your previous post)!! I have a particular dislike of tartan trews, I'm afraid ... though I do love a man who wears his kilt well 😁!!!

Hopefully a wedding reception is not outside! As for anyone not Scottish wearing tartan to a wedding - absolutely not. And that includes Vivian Westwood tartan too.

That really doesn't prove your point. Tartan is a material - some of it is beautiful, some of it isn't. Wear it if you like it. All this " your clan" stuff is cringe making.

I’d wear Vivienne Westwood tartan everywhere if I had the budget for it. I’m not Scottish but neither was Vivienne Westwood- so what?

Sigh.

• To clansmen and clanswomen, clan affiliation is often important. Wearing the tartan signifies clan affiliation. This point was all my suggestion about a shawl was about.
• As for thinking it's "cringe making" to talk about this, the clansmen and clanswomen to whom it is important, and who do wear tartan to weddings, disagree. Who made you the sole arbiter of what is "cringe making"?

I wrote half a sentence, the first half of which was recommending a pashmina in the same colour as the dress, and you jumped down my throat. You reaction is disproportionate.

Why not? I'm Irish but moved here to Edinburgh at 20, so have lived here almost my whole adult life - almost 40 years.

Don't I have a right to wear tartan if I want to? (I don't especially, but only because graphic patterns don't suit me.)

All my (native) Scottish friends would see English/Australians/Americans wearing tartan at weddings etc as cultural appreciation, not appropriation. They often have Scottish ancestors & have done lots of research into that. I think it's a lovely thing!

Vivienne Westwood commissioned Lochcarron weavers to make her tartan items and to design a tartan for her, which is named the MacAndreas after her Austrian husband.

I'm sure Lochcarron and other heritage tartan and tweed manufacturers were delighted by the likes of Vivienne Westwood and Cabbages and Roses using material woven in Scotland, regardless of who wears it or whether they're "entitled" to. I don't have any VW tartan but have several C&R Lochcarron items.

Indeed. I don't know many people at all in Scotland who are precious about tartan (apart from the occasional tiresome tartan twats already mentioned). Proud, yes! Protectionist & precious, absolutely not.

I think some of the traditional kilt-makers would go out of business without the custom from tourists, people around the world with some Scottish heritage - & non-Scottish wedding guests!!

Do you remember the row that broke out about ten years ago around the Monet painting, La Japonisme, that's in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts? It's of his wife wearing a beautiful kimono, & they'd had a replica made & held "Kimono Wednesdays" - where people could pose in front of the painting wearing it, & have a photo taken. It was accompanied by lots of really interesting facts & history.

Some people were greatly affronted by this, seeing it as cultural appropriation - & this spiralled into protests & adverse publicity, so that the museum eventually stopped the event.

In the meantime, numerous Japanese experts were contacted for their opinions on the furore - including historians &, I think, the minister of tourism or commerce or similar. They couldn't see what the fuss was all about, as to them kimono was just clothing! And the traditional kimono manufacturing industry in Japan was waning, so anything that was seen as raising awareness of the history, manufacture & beauty of the garments was seen as a hugely positive thing as it supported kimono-manufacturing in Japan!!

or whether they're "entitled" to

Right, I see. You think I'm endorsing an exclusionary view of who can wear tartan.

Clan tartan is likely to clash with the dress. If I was in my Mum's clan (which I'm not, because patrilineality), I'd wear it despite the clash, because, to me, the clan affiliation would trump fashion choices.

That's all that was behind that suggestion.

ETA: Yeah, you might get the side-eye from others if you wear tartan that's "not yours", but I don't personally think that the side-eye givers are very nice.

On a separate note, a Cabbages & Roses fan is selling her collection on eBay - including these beauties.

https://ebay.us/m/oDhwvj
https://ebay.us/m/Ilc7vx

Impressed by princess seams on the red and grey one. They are like hen's teeth these days.

Taking the comments on board, I've ordered these shoes and picked up a couple of clutch bags from Vinted.

https://memery.co.uk/products/30s-art-deco-inspired-evening-sandals-silver-helen?_pos=2&_sid=e94ccf1aa&_ss=r

I've also found this chiffon bolero, which comes in silver and black. Any thoughts on which one would go better?

Black: https://www.roman.co.uk/chiffon-bolero-20009608

Silver: https://www.roman.co.uk/ruched-hem-chiffon-bolero-20022436

Thanks for all the advice :)

Silver, hands-down.

The shoes work too.

Neither. You don't need anything on top of the dress. Neither of them are nice and it's a pity to cover up your pretty dress.

I've often wondered about Memery but never bought any. Those are much nicer than the shoes the website used.

You will get very warm with ceilidh dancing.

The shoes are much better than the pink ones - though I was surprised by the cost being £175 when the first pair was £37! Hopefully you'll plan to wear them again? Silver is definitely better than champagne-pink.

(Though I still prefer, if you want a retro-ish rather than retro-replica shoe that's comfortable for the evening, the Anonymous Copenhagen ones. I thought you'd maybe passed over those because of the cost - but they're cheaper!! They are less full-on retro, which I prefer - but the ones you've ordered are definitely nicer than the first pair, so I hope you like them & they suit.)

Re the bolero, is there a reason why you want something over your shoulders? Not warmth I assume, as chiffon won't provide much!! Do you want to cover your upper arms?

If so, the silver one is better than the black - but IMO that's not saying much ... sorry!

It's not the cost or the fabric that put me off as such - it's the fact that it's a bolero!! I'm sorry, but I can't even express a polite dislike - I hate them!! They're really dated, & will cheapen your outfit & make it look frumpy. And I am perplexed as to why you'd wear it with your much more expensive dress & shoes.

That's merely my opinion, but I do agree with @PhaedraWas that no bolero (ever!) is best - but if you do want something to cover up, maybe a silver-grey kimono/cape style in really fine gauzy wool - if there's such a thing?

I agree there's a huge disparity between the cost of the shoes and dress and the bolero.

If you want something because you're someone who feels the cold then Palava do really pretty cotton cardigans. The bracelet length sleeves are dressy and they're high quality, organic cotton with a satiny feel. But if it's just for the sake of wearing something because you think you should I wouldn't bother.

I agree about retroish over retro replica.

https://palava.co/collections/womens-knitwear

Or ... since you're already in sequinned/beaded dress & silver heels & bag - just go the whole hog with this 70s silver crochet shawl ...?? Mixing eras - but the 70s were hugely influenced by the 30s anyway ...

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/4446109364/vintage-70s-metallic-shawl-70s-silver

It's much nicer than the polyester chiffon one, & you could wear it again over a plain black dress with your silver heels ... 😊!!!

Don’t put anything over the dress take a shawl for when you’re cold. Jewellery should be minimal those green fan earrings are not it.
Wear the shoes you want and take some flats for the dancing if the ones you want to wear are not suitable, silver would be best.

I think all this was covered several pages ago ...?

The OP has already been advised not to wear dangly jewellery - &, in actual fact, when I looked at those fan earrings, they're tiny - so are perfectly suitable!

As for the shoes, the OP clearly wants to wear "dance" type shoes that will serve for both wedding & ceilidh, & has chosen a silver pair.

If I wore that stunner with a beaded dress, the beads would get stuck in the crochet.

There is that possibility ...! But she's had so many potential hazards pointed out to her already, what's another one ...?!!